Science (TRACES) 49 which appeared in 1968 

 and Interactions of Science and Technology in 

 (he innovative Process: Some Case Studies 50 

 which appeared in 1973. These studies 

 attempted to document the contributions of and 

 chronological relationships between basic 

 research, applied research and development for 

 selected technological innovations. Although 

 each study highlighted the time delays between 

 publication of basic research results and the 

 utilization of such results, only the two NSF 

 projects illustrated how basic research had 

 contributed to the improved productivity, 

 standard of living and economic status of 

 society. However, while these case studies were 

 underway, questions were also raised as to 

 where basic research should be done and under 

 whose sponsorship. 



The marking out of boundaries for military 

 research activity was tried anew in the 

 Mansfield amendment of 1970, which sought to 

 limit military support of basic research to those 

 areas clearly within the military's mission. 51 

 Behind this effort was the belief that while basic 

 research was a worthwhile object of Federal 

 subsidy, military sponsorship in most cases 

 carried a larger liability than benefit. NSF, it 

 was hoped, would be able to pick up the funds. 

 In practice, it proved easier to deny funds to the 

 military than to rebudget them for a civilian 

 agency. 



As the decade of the sixties faded and the 

 seventies began, the weaknesses of the postwar 

 scientific system, added to some adverse results 

 of its successes, awakened apprehension in 



many observers. In December 1969 a presiden- 

 tial Task Force on Science Policy reported that 

 "urgent and critical funding problems do exist 

 in many areas of science and technology today. 

 All aspects of science policy are currently 

 strongly influenced by the fact that, after years 

 of rapid growth, Federal funds for the support of 

 basic research and academic science have 

 leveled, or, considering the effects of inflation, 

 decreased in recent years. Intense budget 

 pressures and very difficult priority choices 

 exist." The report in a subsequent passage 

 detailed some consequences of the decrease in 

 support levels, embracing them in the phrase 

 "this general crisis." 52 



Also in 1969 former presidential science 

 advisor, Jerome B. Wiesner, noted that "there 

 has been no time in the post-World War II period 

 when the situation looked as bleak, nor were our 

 scientists more discouraged." Wiesner called for 

 "a recommitment to an aggressive, vital scien- 

 tific program, a rededication motivated by the 

 true need of our society, the need to be 

 continuously inventing our future, if we are to 

 remain a vital nation." 53 



In the context of such statements lay 

 references, direct or implied, to the persistence 

 of issues confronting research in the United 

 States through much of its history. The voicing 

 of concern was also the statement of a challenge. 

 The history reviewed here provides hope that 

 this challenge can be met by study and action so 

 as to continue progress in the history yet to be 

 written. 



J " The Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute. 

 Technology in Retrospect nntl Critical Events in Science, 

 [TRACESJ, Prepared for the National Science Foundation. 2 

 vols.. (1968). Available from National Technical Informa- 

 tion Service: Vol. 1, PB 234767/AS; Vol. 2. PB 234768/AS. 

 50 Battelle Columbus Laboratories, Interactions of Science 

 and Te< hnoiogy in [he Innovative Process: Some Case 

 Studies, prepared for the National Science Foundation (C- 



667). March. 1973. Columbus. Ohio. Available from 

 National Technical Inhumation Service as PB 228-508'AS. 

 51 See for example, Science. 169 (September 11, 1970), 1059. 

 Science and Technology: Tools for Progress. The Report 

 ol the President's Task Force on Science Policy (April. 

 1970), pp. v, 25. 



'" Jerome B. Wiesner. "Rethinking Our Scientific Objec- 

 tives," Technology Review, 71 (|anuary. 1969). 15-17. 



RESEARCH IN THE UNITED STATES 



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